In a computer-adaptive test, the computer screen displays one question at a time, which is chosen from a very large pool of questions categorized by content and difficulty. The first question is always of a medium difficulty, and each subsequent question is determined by your responses to all the previous questions. In other words, the CAT adjusts itself to your ability level – you’ll get few questions that are either too easy or too difficult for you.

Each question in the GMAT CAT has five answer options, and you are required to select one of these five as the correct answer by clicking on it. A subsequent question is displayed on the screen only after you have answered the previous question, so you cannot skip a question. You cannot also go back to a previously answered question to change your answer. Thus, if you guess a correct answer or answer a question incorrectly by mistake, your answers to subsequent questions will lead you back to questions that are at the appropriate level of difficulty for you.

Content and Format of the GMAT

The test has three distinct sections : Analytical Writing Ability (AWA), Quantitative, and Verbal. The Quantitative section has two types of questions, Problem Solving and Data Sufficiency, mingled throughout the section. The Verbal Section has three types : Sentence Correction, Critical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension; here too, the questions of each type appear in no set sequence. There are a total of 78 questions, 37 in Quantitative (Including 9 Experimental Questions) and 41 in Verbal. These have to be done in 75 minutes each.

The analytical writing sections of the test measure the ability to think critically and communicate complex ideas through writing. There are two 30 minute essays—1 task is to analyze an issue; the other is to analyze an argument.Analysis of Issue:Students are required to present their perspective/opinion on an issue.Analysis of Argument: Students are required to analyse a given argument.

The verbal sections of the test measure the ability to understand and evaluate what is read and to recognize the basic conventions of standard written English. This 75 minute section contains 41 multiple choice questions (with 5 answer choices per question) of any of three question types, Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning and Sentence Correction.

The following table gives out the format of the GMAT-CAT :

GMAT Score

Questions

Topic

Timing

————– Computer Tutorial ———-

NA

Essay

1-6

1 Topic
1 Topic

Analysis of an Issue
Analysis of an Argument

30 min.
30 min.

———– Optional Rest Break ———–

5 min.

Quantitative

100-400

37( Including 9 Experimental Questions )

Problem Solving
Data Sufficiency

75 min.

————— Optional Rest Break ————–

5 min.

Verbal

100-400

41

Reading Comprehension Critical Reasoning
Sentence Correction

75 min.

Total

200-800

78+2 Essays

4 Hours (approx.)

Remember:

The Analytical Writing section is always the first section followed by the Quantitative Section and then the Verbal Section.

GMAT Score :

The GMAT score is for a total of 800. The score is based on a combination of the Quantitative and Verbal sections and will be in a range of 200-800.

>>> Categorizing the Passages>>> The Pros and Cons of Outlining>>> Political Correctness>>> Business Passages>>> Science Passages>>> History/Humanities Passages

GMAT Course: AWA Topic

The essays are scored in a range from 0 to 6. The ratings of the essay will be 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.5, 4.0, 3.5, 3.0,2.5, 2.0, 1.5 and 1.0. Your essay will receive a rating of 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.5, 4.0, 3.5, 3.0, 2.5, 2.0 1.5, or 1. A score of 0 will be given, if an examinee writes nothing, simply copies the topic or written in another language. The desired level is 5 and above.